Oct. 24, 2006
Final Stats
Cullowhee, N.C. -
Senior Heather Koontz led Western Carolina with a match-high 14 kills and freshman Liz Rondone surpassed the 30-dig plateau for the fifth-time this season as the Catamount volleyball team swept the Wofford Terriers, 3-0 (30-20, 30-28, 31-29) Tuesday night in Southern Conference action at the Ramsey Center.
With the win, the Catamounts earned their second three-game victory of the season, both coming against the Terriers in completing the seasonal sweep.
"Tonight really was a team win with everyone that saw action contributing," said head coach Stephanie Dragan. "We had a great crowd tonight and we really fed off them when we needed that extra push, especially when we fell behind in game three. Heather (Koontz) did a great job tonight finishing and Liz (Rondone) continued to show her relentless pursuit to the ball. Reaching 30 digs is a hard thing to do, but she is making it look relatively easy. I also felt that (Amanda) Kerr worked extremely hard at the net and had a strong presence."
Koontz' 16 kills give the Rosman, N.C., native back-to-back double-digit outings after tallying 14 at Elon on Saturday. Freshman Amanda Kerr just missed double figures with nine kills on a career-high tying .333 attack percentage, committing just three errors. Kerr added three block assists to lead the squad. Junior Meredith Harmon finished with eight kills on a .312 hitting percentage.
Freshman setter Katie Hennessey recorded the lone double-double of the match, dishing out 32 assists and recording 10 digs in the win. In addition to Hennessey, Rondone led four Catamounts in double-figure digs as seniors Meghan Boyle and Kate Willard finished with 11 and 10, respectively.
Game one saw three ties, all within the first six points. Western (7-23, 3-11 SoCon) broke open the final tie at 3-3 by scoring eight of the next nine points to pull ahead, 11-to-4. The Terriers closed to within one point on three occasions, but a kill by Kerr and three points behind the serve of Koontz propelled WCU back to the lead it would never relinquish, winning 30-20.
Again using the service of Koontz, the Catamounts opened up a tight second game with three-straight points to pull ahead four, 10-6. But Wofford clawed its way back, tying the game at 13 before inching out a two-point advantage, 16-14, its largest of the frame. Using Harmon's serve, Western scored five unanswered to lead 20-16, and then held off Wofford's late charge to take a two games to none lead in the match with the 30-28 win.
Game three endured 14 ties and six lead changes, with the final switch concluding the match. With Wofford leading 29-28 and serving game point, Koontz came through with her final kill of the night to knot the score at 29. On consecutive attacking errors by Terrier freshman Courtney Gregory, the Catamounts were able to score the final two points for the win.
Wofford (6-16, 1-12 SoCon) had two players finish with a team-high eight kills in both freshmen Sarah Twitty and Sarah Palmer while a third freshman, setter Joanna Suddath, passed out 22 assists. Defensively, three Terriers reached double digits led by 17 digs from senior Shanna Glenn, with Palmer adding a dozen and sophomore Carolyn Rivers tallying 10 in the loss.
Western Carolina remains at home on Sunday, Oct. 29, to host the Georgia Southern Eagles at 2:00 pm. The Catamounts defeated GSU in Statesboro earlier this season in five games.
